Woman spends 170 nights in backyard tent

Updated 12:14 pm, Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Nina Miller sits in the opening of her tent that she has slept in for more than 170 nights.

Nina Miller sits in the opening of her tent that she has slept in for more than 170 nights.

Photo: Megan Spicer

Image 2 of 5

Two directors chairs sit atop the hill looking out over Nina Miller's home. Behind the chairs is Miller's tent that she has slept in for more than 170 days.

Two directors chairs sit atop the hill looking out over Nina Miller's home. Behind the chairs is Miller's tent that she has slept in for more than 170 days.

Photo: Megan Spicer

Image 3 of 5

The inside of Nina Miller's tent has items to keep her entertained at night befpre she falls asleep, such as a radio and a pad of paper and a pen.

The inside of Nina Miller's tent has items to keep her entertained at night befpre she falls asleep, such as a radio and a pad of paper and a pen.

Photo: Megan Spicer

Image 4 of 5

The walk up to the tent that Nina Miller has been sleeping in is quite steep and was treacherous during the winter months when inches of snow piled up.

The walk up to the tent that Nina Miller has been sleeping in is quite steep and was treacherous during the winter months when inches of snow piled up.

Photo: Megan Spicer

Image 5 of 5

Nina Miller keeps notes inside her tent for things she may need.

Nina Miller keeps notes inside her tent for things she may need.

Photo: Megan Spicer

Woman spends 170 nights in backyard tent

1 / 5

Back to Gallery

Nearly every night around 9, Nina Miller turns off the TV in her Darien home and says good night to her husband. As he retires to their bedroom, she throws on a pair of snow boots and trudges up the hill in their backyard to the two-person tent she's been sleeping in for the better part of the year.

Since June 26, through heat waves, thunderstorms and the recent polar vortex, Miller has spent more than 170 nights in the small North Face tent, with only a sleeping bag (sometimes two), a battery-operated book light and her notebook.

"It is amazing what I've seen in this spot right here," she said on a recent Thursday afternoon.

One morning she peeked outside the tent and she saw a deer just 6 feet away. She's seen ospreys, turkeys and a red-tailed hawk.

She said one of the highlights of sleeping in the tent is the fact that the animals are none the wiser.

"When you're in there ... the animals don't know it," she said. "The birds sit right on top of the tent and just sing away. Sometimes it's startling because it's so loud."

The half-acre property on Kings Highway South, which runs parallel to Post Road near the library, is less than a mile from the Darien train station and about a half-mile from Interstate 95. Miller wants to show others that in a town that's 98.5 percent developed, Darien still is teeming with wildlife.